Today we had a few firsts:

– We hit 500 miles of hiking through California!! We feel accomplished 😊

– I finally saw some large wildlife. A coyote! But only the back of it as it came out of the brush and on the trail in front of me

– Rob completed the first 20+ mile day of either of us. He did a 2.5 mile loop to get water that put him over 

– I saw horses on the trail! Always wanted to, but didn’t realize I would be so startled when I did. All of a sudden 3 came around a bend and I jumped at the sight of them. They are very graceful on trail. 

– We hit a water source that we were counting on and it was DRY! The fact that at nearly 500 miles this was the first time we had a small water crisis in the desert is AMAZING! This is also how Daddie Gizmo added his bonus miles. 

– We had to go 3.5 miles further at the end of the day than we really wanted to. We were both tired with sore feet, but a different water source that we thought we may camp by did not look very clean. We hadn’t felt pressured previously to move forward, but today it made sense so we could have better drinking water from a spring ahead. 

We saw Larry again on the trail today and he made it up to the same campsite as ourselves before dark. We were beat by the end of the day and knew we had just one more day to hike before our planned break. We soaked up the last night of camping on top of a mountain for a while. 

Daddie Gizmo:

After a big hiker breakfast of black coffee, lots of pancakes and a beer at the Andersen’s, we were able to sign the PCT Class of 2017 banner, pose for a pic with everyone that was there that morning and receive our 2017 Class Bandana.

We took our time chatting, hugging with everyone and expressing our great thanks to our Trail Angel hosts for there generosity and hospitality. It is crazy to think that they will have 50+ people a night camping in their back acreage and feeding them every night for almost 2 months during the peak of hiker season. RockDoc and Galpal were going to get some lunch so we decided to tag along. More food that my body desperately needed and inhaled as fast as it could. We suited up for misty rain and began our hiking day at noon.
It was a welcome cool after the last 2 days of desert heat. It cleared about 3 hours later and we were able to reach out camp site mostly dry except for our shoes which will still likely be soaked in the morning. It’s not a good idea to build an open fire in this part of the desert that could have dried things out. 3 pairs of socks and always a clean dry pair in reserve are coming in handy tonight. Today’s elevation was 4000 gained and 2500 lost. These numbers were very difficult for us be beginning but almost routine for us after 5 weeks. Tomorrow should be about the same. One member of our new trail family, Hurricane, switches trails tomorrow and we will miss him being on the PCT. Thanks again for all the comments and positive energy from everyone following our journey.

 

Today was a really really great day. I woke up in an exceptionally sparkly mood. We had a bunch of little adventures spread throughout our ten mile hike into Agua Dulce. The trail runs right through the town. Fortunately, this is the only time we have walked on a paved road through a town as part of the trail. We left the KOA and said see you later to Woodard, Galpal and Rockdoc. Hurricane left before we even woke up. He was really quiet. Never heard him pack up. We had to go through a drainage tunnel under the highway at one point. It offered good shade for a break at the end of it. I had rinsed some of my clothes in the sink at the KOA and still needed to dry a few so this was as good a time as any to throw them in the sun.

Right before the tunnel we saw some strange clay sculptures in a grouping on the side of the trail. Rob thought it marked a dog grave, but then we saw another grouping of the same sculptures in the Vazquez Rocks area.

Strange, but I like it! The rock formations in the Vazquez Rock area were really spectacular. We used it as a backdrop for some Gizzie photos.

When we approached the main park area we noticed a lot of people milling around so we walked over to see what was going on. We were pretty shocked when we saw there was a band set up, people walking around in costumes and what appeared to be some sort of play. After standing there and looking around at what seemed like a strange scene to stumble upon we realized it’s Easter weekend! We spoke with someone handing out flyers and confirmed that it was indeed an Easter play. Apparently they do a Saturday show that gets about 800 people and a second show Sunday morning at dawn that Is standing room only. Having these huge rocks as the backdrop to their play is pretty unique. I thought a play at 2p in the blazing heat with no shade seemed a little odd as far timing, but the place was packed. From there we went to the information center and looked around at some of the history. Many many movies have been filmed at Vazquez Rocks – planet of the apes, Star Trek, lots of westerns. We also saw our first rattlesnake…in a cage at the center. We know they are around us because people have warned us on trail that there is one around a bend etc, but we have yet to see one ourselves. We got a good laugh out of finally seeing one under those circumstances. From there the trail ran directly through town passing the grocery store and a cafe. We opted to do the cafe and get a salad which we later regretted. They were having some chef crisis and it took 30 minutes to get a salad – with nothing cooked on it. Totally ridiculous. Even more so cause we were trying to eat fast and get to the wineries before they closed at 5. We didn’t even know this town had wineries until we saw a sign advertising one 30 minutes before, but it was pretty clear we were going. When we finally got our food and got out of the cafe we made a beeline for the Agua Dulce Winery. It was terrible. The wine had so much sediment in it and had a very strong alcohol taste. Worst wine tasting ever. We actually gave our red wine back it was so gross. Best part of that place was a guy we met who was in awe of our doing the hike and said he wanted to hike the PCT one day too. We hoofed it down the street a half mile to get to the other winery in hopes it would be better. Thankfully, it was! Not world class wines, but drinkable at least. We had a nice chat about our hike with a woman who lives in the area. On our way out we met another woman who was also applauding us for our hike. Rob is always really careful to say we “made” the time, not “took” the time for the hike. We planned a lot. We ran into so many people today who just loved the fact that we set out to do this. Some say we are their hero. It’s kind of crazy but I guess we made an out of the box move and people recognize it. We were a little tipsy by the time we were done at the second winery and had to decide what to do for the night. Hiker Heaven is a trail angels house a few miles from where we were. It’s supposed to be great. Almost everyone goes there and hangs out, sleeps, does laundry and just generally commiserates. Rob had another plan though. We bought a bottle of wine and then sneakily camped under some trees by the road overlooking the vineyard. It was a great way to end the day.

Before we were even out of our sleeping bags we heard Rockdoc, Woodrat and Galpal coming around the mountain. We said good morning and they came into the little hollow on the side of the trail where we set up camp last night. We chatted a bit and said we would catch up with them later today at the Andersen’s house.

They are another very popular trail angel 7 miles from where we started this morning. They have been hosting people for 18 years!! We passed Larry again on trail and made it to the Andersens by 1pm with beer and Oreos to share. Hurricane had arrived last night and since he is leaving to begin the Continental Divide Trail on Wednesday he is staying here until then. The Andersen’s have a backyard that stretches far back and is filled with probably 50 little campsites tucked into corners and under manzanita. Rocks hand painted by hikers over the years were placed all through out the property. Terri and Joe welcome stinky hikers (and believe me, I feel like I’m at my smelliest right now) into their home during hiker season. They are still just getting set up now since we are still early in the crowd. We set up camp, passed the afternoon all hanging out in the backyard and were later welcomed with a big embrace from Terri herself.
We all shared a hearty and delicious dinner of rice, baked beans, coleslaw and BBQ. Daddie Gizmo is feeling the hiker hunger recently. He had 3 plates of food. The Andersen’s, aka Casa De Luna, is known for being a party house and getting crowds of 50-60 hikers staying there in a night and it’s easy to get sucked in and stay longer. Hurricane said he was there 5 nights when he hiked the PCT in 2010 and there is another story of someone staying 5 weeks! Terri had some great stories to share from over the years. The six of us, however, were in our tents nice and early. 

Well, we did it – 30 days! Of those 30, we have hiked at least a little bit 27 of them!

We loved waking up in a smushy bed this morning and were completely relaxed knowing we weren’t going to leave town until this afternoon.  In Cajon we had forgotten our Luci Light (inflatable camp light we like in the tent) in the Best Western and when I called, the lady I spoke with said she would be in Wrightwood today getting her hair done.  Perfect – we would relax until 2:30 when we would meet her. After enjoying the comfortable guest bed this morning that Rich offered us we got coffee and breakfast, walked around town, signed the hiker registry and got our PCT pins before heading back to Rich’s to game plan our next segment and pack up.  We hitched a ride back to Inspiration Point and only planned on going 2 miles up from the trailhead that intersects the PCT so that we could camp and and get a fresh start tomorrow morning.  We settled down on Jackson Flat which has grills so we got some hot dogs to grill, invited our good friend Jim Beam, and made a big fire for the first time since we began. It was a great night. We had the entire peak to ourselves and enjoyed a lovely view, dinner and some drinks. A great end to the day.  We may even hang around here late tomorrow since it’s so nice and we literally have no agenda and nowhere we need to be. Living on the fly is treating us well 💞

 

(Lacy)

Today was a hard day on trail.  We began at 8am and continued to go straight up almost the entire day. We were lower on water than we should have been, knowing there wasn’t any source for the next 13 miles until we reached Wrightwood. The combination of rationing our water and the continued uphill made the miles harder. We kept pushing because we wanted to get done before the heat of the day. Turns out none of that mattered because 3.5 miles before we arrived at the road to hitch a ride, we hit a lot of snow on the north face of the mountain.  This was more than we have ever encountered. It was very icy too. It took us over 2 hours to do those miles when it could have easily been done in 1. We both fell twice and slid down the mountainside in the snow.  It’s a little scary and we agreed that we are not going to do that again without snow gear. The first time I fell, I saw myself going towards a tree as I slid down so I stuck out my heel and caught myself before I slid further. Or nailed it on the tree.  Rob and I both managed to loose our footing on different areas and fall at the same time then.

By the time we got to the end of the trail for the day we were both exhausted mentally and physically. It was one of our most taxing days because of the lack of water and then the intensity of going through the snow.  Thankfully for us we knew we were heading straight for food…oh yes, more  food!

All we had eaten by 3:15 was a power bar each and some beef jerky. We hitched another ride into town in the back of a pickup and went straight to Mexico Lindo. We ran back into Galpal, Woodrat and Rockdoc who were enjoying the 5 cent margarita you can get at this place on Tuesdays with the purchase of food.  They were really good and so were the fajitas. Great spot.

With full bellies, we walked the short distance to the trail angels house where we had arranged to stay. Wrightwood is pretty small so the 7 minute walk took us by the grocery store, hardware store (where we plan on going tomorrow to sign the trail register and get a PCT pin😊)  and post office. That’s everything we need right there.

This is the first time that we have stayed with a trail angel and we were so pleased we did. Rich, who hosted us, could not have been more generous and kind. Just genuinely a nice guy. He has opened his home to hikers this year and last and hopes to hike some of the trail next year. I hope that we will still be in touch and can join him. After an enjoyable evening chatting over some cake Rob and I brought, we all crashed. It was nice to snuggle up in a bed tonight.